Return
by XxXRachaelLAXxX
Summary: A short story on a broken Ryder returning from the navy.


**Hello all! I thought of this idea randomly, and I haven't posted a Melissa and Joey story in agessss so I thought I'd take a shot at trying to write this. I've set this near the season finale and I hope something similar to this happens as it would make the last few episodes so much better and more emotional.**

* * *

"Ryder?" Mel looked at her broken nephew in shock. Thr first thing she noticed is how skinny he looked. Before he left, Ryder had put on some muscle and now he looked ghastly and was pale. He was on a wheelchair for starters. Both his legs were broken and he had a white cast fron his foot to just above his knee on his right left and his entire left leg had another white cast on. His face was full of scars but there was one which stood out. It was a huge scat from just under his left eye right down to near his lips. It wasn't only his injuries which shocked him, it was the way he looked at his aunt...his facial expression was one full of pain and hurt and his eyes were slightly red, presumably from crying. He looked helpless. After staring at him for a few seconds she gently pulled him in for a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. He hugged back, both of them sobbing. Mel then noticed the lady stood behind the wheelchair. She was wearing the navy uniform and was a tall women with broad shoulders and a muscular build.

"He had a little accident but he should be ok. We advise him to stay at home for at least six months before joining the navy again." She explained.

"Forget six months, he's not returning ever again." Mel said very sternly, taking him in to the kitchen. Ryder remained silent, just looking down at his legs. Mel gave him a glass of water. He refused to drink it.

"One second I'll be right back." Mel left and went into the living room. She took a deep breath before breaking down just as Lennox walked in.

"You'll never guess...what's wrong?" Lennox asked.

"Go into the kitchen..." Lennox pulled a weird face before going into the kitchen. Her face dropped. She leant down, holding Ryder's hand, gently rubbing her thumb against it. He remained silent, looking at his older sister with pain in his eyes.

"You wanna go upstairs?" He nodded. She took his wheelchair to the stairs and then tried to figure out how to take him upstairs. "I'm gonna sit you down on the bottom stair and then try and get yourself upstairs." There was a silence. "Is that ok?" He nodded. She put her arms around him and tried to lift as much weight off him as she could ans then sat him down on the stairs. "Try and get yourself up okay." Lennox helped him get up the stairs and then bought his wheelchair up. "Get on to this and I'll take you to your room."

"No. Take him to mine. If he needs anything I'll be able to get it him faster." Mel said to Lennox. They both wanted to know what had happened to Ryder, but they didn't want to ask him just yet. He didn't look like he wanted to talk about it right now.

Mel and Lennox took him into Mel's room.

"Joe 's home. I'll tell him to make him something to eat." Lennox left.

"I'm going to lie you down okay." Mel said to Ryder, who just nodded. She put her arms around him and was practically able to lift him on to her bed. She gently lifted his legs up on to the bed and put the duvet over him. She got some pillows and elevated his leg.

"C...can I sleep for a while?" Ryder spoke for the first time.

"I want you to eat something first, then you can sleep for as long as you want." She stroked his cheek with her thumb comfortingly, kissing his head through his thick brown hair. She realised that he felt a bit warm. "I think you have a bit of a temperature. I'm going to take your hoodie off if that's okay." Ryder sat up and Mel sat down on the other side of the bed next to him, lifting his hoodie off, accidently taking his t shirt off too. She saw scars and bruises all over her nephews torso. She noticed a tear fall down his cheek.

"Don't worry...you're okay now." Mel wrapped her arms around the broken 18 year old. He rested his head onto her chest, tears falling from his eyes. Mel rubbed her fingers through his hair, calming her nephew down.

* * *

"Ryder's home." Lennox blurted out as she saw Joe.

"What...when?" Joe asked with a smile on his face.

"I...I think he's fully broken." The smile on Joe's face faded.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked her whilst he started to make some pizza for Ryder.

"He's broken both legs, but that isn't it. It was the way he looked at me...his expression was full of pain and desperation. I remember when mum was put into prison she told me one thing, which was to make sure Ryder doesn't get hurt. I've failed her...you've not seen the look on his face Joe...it's almost like he's desperate for some love. You'll understand what I mean when you see him." She explained.

"Lennox...one thing you haven't done is failed your mum. Whatever happened to him isn't your fault in any way. So don't think it is." Joe comforted her. "I'd better get this up to him. Knowing Ryder he's probably starving." Joe and Lennox both went up to Mel's room to see Ryder. Joe couldn't take his eyes off his face. It was as if Ryder had bottled up all his emotions for a long long time and was trying desperately not to let then out.

"I made you your favourite." Joe handed him the plate, patting his shoulder and then left as he heard the doorbell ring.

"Eat up, then you can sleep." Mel began to feed him his lasagne. She looked him in the eye and saw the thirteen year old Ryder who first moved in with her after his parents were put into prison. He had the same look on his face now. After he had finished eating, she left Lennox in charge of him whilst she went to see Joe.

"He has a doctor coming round tomorrow to change his bandages and a report of what happened is in this envelope." Joe opened the envelope and read it in shock.

* * *

Upstairs, Lennox was trying to get through to Ryder and ask him what had happened.

"So was the navy hard?" She asked.

"Yeh it was pretty tough." He replied.

"Did you make any friends?"

"One or two. The rest hated me." Lennox was getting through to him.

"Why did they hate you?"

"They thought I was stupid and couldn't do anything." He replied. "I was framed for stealing some rations and they b...beat me." He explained, sobbing.

"Ryder...your okay now." She pulled him into a hug.

"I tried to run...but I fell from the balcony. That's the last thing I remember before I woke up in hospital." He explained.

"What about your friends? Were they nice to you?"

"One of my friends dropped me off home...she was the only close friend I made to be honest." There was a short silence.

"Can I sleep for a bit? I'm tired." Ryder asked his sister.

"Yeah. Do you want another blanket?" He shook his head. "Night" she kissed her younger brother's forehead and left.

* * *

"He was wrongly accused of stealing rations so some of the others beat him up. He then tried to run but had a fall from the first floor balcony." Joe explained.

"Those bitches beat my nephew and got away with it!" Mel shouted.

"No...it says here they were given severe punishments for it and the ringleaders were sacked. The navy deals with bullying very well." Just then Lennox came down.

"That boys been through an awful lot. I got through to him and he told me everything." Lennox said as she took a seat on the sofa.

"We read the accident report. But there's one big question...what's he going to do with himself now he's home?" Mel asked. She wasn't going to send him back to the navy and it'd take time for her nephew to fully recover both physically and mentally.

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 **So this chapter was longer than anticipated! Who else misses Ryder? I prefer the older Melissa and Joey and I think the show has gone downhill since they got together to be honest, but I still watch it from time to time.**


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